The council’s budget
What the council spends on day-to-day services after fees and charges, and where the money comes from, including grants that can only be spent on schools or public health. It must balance by law.
Show the budget as a table
| £m | Share of the net budget | |
|---|---|---|
| Council tax | £92.6m | 23.3% |
| Revenue Support Grant | £81.4m | 20.5% |
| Business rates kept locally | £32.7m | 8.2% |
| Schools grants (ring-fenced) | £108.9m | 27.4% |
| Public health grant (ring-fenced) | £28.1m | 7.1% |
| Other government grants | £45.3m | 11.4% |
| Council tax surplus and other | £3.3m | 0.8% |
| Drawn from schools reserves (one-off) | £5.7m | 1.4% |
| Net budget | £398.0m | 100% |
| £m | Share of the net budget | |
|---|---|---|
| Schools and education | £121.8m | 30.6% |
| Care for older and disabled adults | £84.7m | 21.3% |
| Children's services | £54.7m | 13.7% |
| Housing and homelessness | £43.5m | 10.9% |
| Public health | £28.1m | 7.1% |
| Running the council | £23.2m | 5.8% |
| Community safety and regulation | £12.4m | 3.1% |
| Debt costs and levies | £9.4m | 2.4% |
| Streets, waste and transport | £8.4m | 2.1% |
| Planning and the local economy | £7.0m | 1.8% |
| Parks, libraries and leisure | £4.8m | 1.2% |
| Net budget | £398.0m | 100% |
Where the money comes from
What it pays for
This is day-to-day spending. The council also plans building work worth £135.0m from 2026/27 to 2029/30, and council homes have an account of their own: rents and service charges of £113.0m a year.
Make your case: bins and streets
Want a service run differently? Pick one: here is who decides, how the council’s priorities compare, and how to tell the people who decide.
Who decides
- The lawThe council must collect household waste, and keep the roads and pavements it is responsible for in repair. Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 45, Highways Act 1980, section 41
- The governmentThe government sets most of the council's money, and how far council tax can rise. Provisional local government finance settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029
- The councilHow often bins are collected and streets are swept is for the council: the law sets the duty, not how often. Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 45
- The councilThe council decides where you can park on its roads and what it charges; the money it raises is taken off this spending. Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, section 45
sourcedWho decides: the law and the council's and government's own papersHow it compares
Of every £1 Hammersmith & Fulham pays for itself in 2026/27, 3p goes on streets, waste and transport (£8.4m): the 7th smallest share of 28 London boroughs. The borough in the middle puts 7p.
Lambeth −2pSouthwark 14pThis compares priorities, not value for money: what each council spends after fees and charges and after grants tied to the service, from its budget return to government. Below zero means the fees and charges a council collects for the service are more than it spends on it (Lambeth).
sourcedBudget returns to government, 2026/27What you can do, and by when
- Answer the council’s consultation. It runs from 19 October to 15 November. We will link the council's page here when it opens.
- Write to your councillors, or to those who lead on this for each side: the letter below. Leading on it: Bora Kwon (Labour), Cabinet Member for the Environment, Arts and Culture; and Amanda Lloyd-Harris (Conservative), Shadow Cabinet Member for the Environment, Arts and Culture.
- Ask a question at Full Council. Anyone who lives, works or studies in the borough can put one question to the Leader or a Cabinet Member, in writing, by 12 noon seven working days before the meeting. The council’s rules.
- Start or sign a petition. 100 signatures go to the Cabinet Member responsible, 250 to a Cabinet debate and 5,000 to a Full Council debate. The council’s petitions.
- Speak at a meeting. Up to 10 residents can speak at Cabinet or a scrutiny committee about an item on its agenda; the request form, signed by 10 electors, is due three working days before the meeting. How.
- Ask for a fact we do not have. A Freedom of Information request must be answered within 20 working days. Ready to send, on WhatDoTheyKnow: missed bin collections, what parking brings in, and where it goes.
- Where it is the government’s part, write to your MP. WriteToThem finds them from your postcode.
sourcedQuestions, petitions and deputations: the council's own rules and deadlines
What care for adults costs
In 2024/25, the latest year the government has published, London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham spent £92.7m on care for older people and for adults with a disability or a mental illness, before what people pay towards their own care and money from the NHS. What some of it costs:
Where the £92.7m went
Show adult care spending as a table
| Spending | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Care homes and nursing homes | £28.2m | 30% |
| Assessments, social workers and other care | £16.2m | 18% |
| Care at home | £16.1m | 17% |
| Supported living | £13.5m | 15% |
| Money people arrange their own care with (direct payments) | £10.8m | 12% |
| Supported accommodation | £3.8m | 4% |
| Other long-term care | £3.3m | 4% |
| Short-term care to help people recover | £0.8m | 1% |
| All care for adults | £92.7m | 100% |
From the council’s own return to government, published in the adult social care finance report. Spending is before income, and for 2024/25, so it differs from this year’s budget above. The weekly and hourly costs are the government’s own averages for the council, not spending divided by people.
What people who get care say
In the government’s survey of people who get care and support from their council, 2024/25, about 345 people answered here. Of them:
- 55% were extremely or very satisfied with their care and support (give or take 5 points). London 61%, England 65%: lower than London and England.
- 68% said they had control over their daily life (give or take 5 points). London 72%, England 77%: about the same as London, lower than England.
- 56% said they felt safe (give or take 5 points). London 67%, England 70%: lower than London and England.
A difference counts as lower or higher only where it is bigger than the survey’s margins of error. These are people’s own answers, not a rating of the council; the care regulator’s rating of each council is not on BoroughBook.UK yet. From the adult social care outcomes framework, 2024/25.
Make your case: care for adults
Want something to change? Here is who decides, how it compares, and how to tell the people who decide, in time for their decision.
Who decides
- The lawThe council must assess anyone who appears to need care and support, and meet the needs that are eligible. Care Act 2014, section 9, Care Act 2014, section 18
- The governmentThe government sets most of the council's money, and how far council tax can rise. Provisional local government finance settlement 2026-2027 to 2028-2029
- The councilThe council chooses the prices it pays care homes and home care agencies, how much goes on helping people stay at home, and whether to charge for care, which the law allows but does not require. Care Act 2014, section 14
- The councilHammersmith & Fulham has not charged for care at home since April 2015; its own report says it is the only council in England not to. Free Home Care, page 1
sourcedWho decides: the law and the council's and government's own papersHow it compares
A week in a care home, aged 65 or over: £1,124, the 13th lowest of 28 London boroughs. The one in the middle pays £1,144.
Bromley £934Hounslow £1,446An hour of care at home: £20.03, the 6th lowest of 28 London boroughs. The one in the middle pays £21.25.
Waltham Forest £17.00Merton £24.00Who long-term care is for: people aged 65 and over, £41.1m (54%), and adults aged 18 to 64 with a disability or a mental illness, £34.6m. In 23 of the 35 English councils on BoroughBook.UK, working-age adults get more.
Does it work? In the government’s 2024/25 survey, 55% of people who get care here were extremely or very satisfied with their care and support, lower than London and England. All three answers, with their margins of error. The care regulator’s rating of the council is not on BoroughBook.UK yet.
sourcedAdult social care finance report, 2024/25: the government's own averages for each councilWhat you can do, and by when
- Answer the council’s consultation. It runs from 19 October to 15 November. We will link the council's page here when it opens.
- Write to your councillors, or to those who lead on this for each side: the letter below. Leading on it: Alex Sanderson (Labour), Deputy Leader (responsible for Health and Social Care and Children and Education); and Aliya Afzal-Khan (Conservative), Opposition Deputy Whip and Shadow Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care and Children and Education.
- Ask a question at Full Council. Anyone who lives, works or studies in the borough can put one question to the Leader or a Cabinet Member, in writing, by 12 noon seven working days before the meeting. The council’s rules.
- Start or sign a petition. 100 signatures go to the Cabinet Member responsible, 250 to a Cabinet debate and 5,000 to a Full Council debate. The council’s petitions.
- Speak at a meeting. Up to 10 residents can speak at Cabinet or a scrutiny committee about an item on its agenda; the request form, signed by 10 electors, is due three working days before the meeting. How.
- Ask for a fact we do not have. A Freedom of Information request must be answered within 20 working days. Ready to send, on WhatDoTheyKnow: how long people wait for a care assessment, what the council pays for care.
- Where it is the government’s part, write to your MP. WriteToThem finds them from your postcode.
sourcedQuestions, petitions and deputations: the council's own rules and deadlines
What care for children costs
In 2024/25, London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham spent £24.9m on children in its care, out of £59.1m on all its services for children and young people. On 31 Mar 2025 it was looking after 197 children:
Some small numbers are withheld by the Department to protect children's identities.
Where the £24.9m went
Show spending on children in care as a table
| Spending | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Foster care | £7.1m | 28% |
| Children's homes and other residential care | £5.1m | 21% |
| Young people leaving care | £4.2m | 17% |
| Other care, such as supported accommodation | £3.2m | 13% |
| Support for special guardians | £2.5m | 10% |
| Education of children in care | £1.0m | 4% |
| Living with family or friends (kinship care) | £0.8m | 3% |
| Adoption | £0.5m | 2% |
| Short breaks for disabled children in care | £0.5m | 2% |
| Children seeking asylum on their own | £0.0m | 0% |
| All spending on children in care | £24.9m | 100% |
Across England, a year in a children’s home costs councils about £387,000 a child: our own sum, done the National Audit Office’s way, dividing what councils spend on children’s homes by the children living in them. Councils record this spending in different ways, so we do not work it out for each council. Spending is before income, for 2024/25; the counts are for one day. From the Department for Education’s Section 251 outturn and children looked after statistics.